NTD New Tools Day!

[Ch0jin]

Well after finally taking my stupidly large bucket-o-change to the bank earlier in the week and discovering to my giddy delight it contained $1001.75c in coins (yeah it weighed about 50kg I could barely carry it) I decided to splurge a little. Here's what arrived to my door this morning...

The Hakko FX888 Soldering Station :happy :happy

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5216/5394628896_bef1cfebff.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ch0jin/5394628896/)
Teh Hakko (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ch0jin/5394628896/) by Ch0jiN (http://www.flickr.com/people/ch0jin/), on Flickr

This baby is the replacement for the much revered Hakko 936 and sports some hefty improvements like like a 50% smaller footprint, 20 second faster rise time, a thinner element cover for better handling and visibility and the coolest holder/cleaner I've seen EVER. Given that I've been using a mains powered iron pretty much since I left the fume game 12 years ago, this feels like I jumped out of a B-Double and into a Ferrari.

At the risk of sounding like a d*ck, I think the picture came out really well too ;)

Now when I ordered her, I saw another nifty tool for so cheap I couldn't leave it off my order.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4113/5394031103_90f605e076.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ch0jin/5394031103/)
The Third Hand by Duratool (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ch0jin/5394031103/) by Ch0jiN (http://www.flickr.com/people/ch0jin/), on Flickr

I've been using forceps and clamps and my teeth for so long I figured it's about time I made things a little easier for myself and get with the third hand crew. For less than a ten spot, it's a must have.

[bcdon]

Very nice! I have a can of coins too and thought I'd spend it all on strippers until I found out that they don't like coins! WTF?! ;-)

[Ch0jin]

Very nice! I have a can of coins too and thought I'd spend it all on strippers until I found out that they don't like coins! WTF?! ;-)

Apparently they don't like you trying to swipe your credit card either ;)

[bcdon]

Apparently they don't like you trying to swipe your credit card either ;)

HAHA! And yet the pole is totally a-okay? Shh... I don't think I'll ever understand strippers... :dance

[Ch0jin]

I like the way we went from tools to strippers in 3 posts too. And they say men are simple creatures.. Damn right we are!

[otaypanky]

I like the way we went from tools to strippers in 3 posts too. And they say men are simple creatures.. Damn right we are!

That's not entirely true if that makes you feel any better Ch0jin

I was thinking about strippers when I read your original post so we never strayed in our manhood ~ :dude

[Ch0jin]

That's not entirely true if that makes you feel any better Ch0jin

I was thinking about strippers when I read your original post so we never strayed in our manhood ~ :dude

H'mm, so a man who works with leather, reads about hot irons and clamps and immediately thinks of strippers...

/me backs away slowly....

:laughingatyou :rollover :rollover :rollover :rollover

I was trying the iron out just before, and that holder is SO cool. You have the usual wet sponge deal, but also the cleaning wire which doesn't cool the tip and does an excellent job of taking off just the excess solder, and then there's a rubber strip for cleaning off oxidisation. These guys know their stuff clearly. Also it might look like blue plastic in my pic, but the holder is all metal.

[duhvoodooman]

Very nice!! :thumbsup I got a Hakko 936 station about a year ago now and I LOVE it. What a difference over cheap, fixed wattage irons!

[otaypanky]

It looks like a well designed unit, for sure. I did think it was a plastic housing, the fact that it's metal is nice. If I had seen this one a year ago I would have gotten it instead of my little Weller. If I could foresee a lot of soldering in my future I would get one, but I think my projects are mostly behind me now and the Weller WLC 100 will suffice for little quick fixes

[Spudman]

$1000 in coins?! :what Man, that's a lot.

Now you've got me jonesing for a nice solder station. I already have the age related viewing device. I already thought of strippers on the last thread I was on before this one. So, am I in the man club?

[Ch0jin]

Very nice!! :thumbsup I got a Hakko 936 station about a year ago now and I LOVE it. What a difference over cheap, fixed wattage irons!

For sure! Truth be told, when I thought about an upgrade I looked at the old "soldering iron recommendations" thread and saw yourself and a couple of others were happy with your 936's, and although I was a Weller man in my past life, the Hakko offering was just so much better at the price point I had to grab it. $174 AUS delivered.

I've linked this thread to the sticky soldering iron thread in case anyone else is looking as the 936 is now EOL.

[Ch0jin]

$1000 in coins?! :what Man, that's a lot.


It doesn't look like that much, that's why I was surprised when I counted it out and got the total.

Here's $1001.75 in change. That's like $900 and something USD.

http://members.iinet.net.au/~ch0jin/stuff/change.jpg

[tjcurtin1]

Your coins must be worth more than ours...:D

[Spudman]

It doesn't look like that much, that's why I was surprised when I counted it out and got the total.

Here's $1001.75 in change. That's like $900 and something USD.

http://members.iinet.net.au/~ch0jin/stuff/change.jpg

The only thing missing in the photo is a bong. :D

I can just take my coins down to the bank and they throw it into a sorting/counting machine. I don't have to do any of that. I don't know if I'd have the patience to do it.

[Ch0jin]

The only thing missing in the photo is a bong. :D

I can just take my coins down to the bank and they throw it into a sorting/counting machine. I don't have to do any of that. I don't know if I'd have the patience to do it.

Funny you should say both those things Spudman. I sent that pic to my sisters phone and she thought they were bags of weed, not coins, and started getting stuck into me until I explained..

Also, complete idiot that I am, counted it all out before discovering that my bank has a counting machine too. I did manage to fill the machine though, and I got plenty of curious looks as I dumped pile after pile of coins into it ;)

As to value, we have coins for $1 and $2 instead of notes and there were 228 of the former and 51 of the latter so that pumped up the total considerably.

[Ch0jin]

Actually, here you go....

http://members.iinet.net.au/~ch0jin/stuff/sam%20bong.jpg


This is actually the $4 capo from GFS, but I think the picture fits ;)

[kiteman]

Wow, that's a serious bit of coinage and congrats on your new toys. :dance

My cup's pretty happy with the silver in it. :)

http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/8560/s5030168.jpg (http://img703.imageshack.us/i/s5030168.jpg/)

[ZMAN]

[QUOTE=Spudman]$1000 in coins?! :what Man, that's a lot.

You guys should move to Canada. We have a $1, and $2 coins.
It doesn't take many of them in a bucket to make a Grand. They replaced the paper bills. Now it is nothing to have 10 bucks in coins in your poket, with 5 coins.
A lot of us carry small coin pouches to save wear and tear on the pockets.

[kiteman]

We used to have $1 coins and $2 bills, they didn't go well here.

EDIT: by the way, we did away with 50 cent coins and bills over $100.